Beacon's Speedy Barbecue Served With Out-of-this-world Onion Rings

April 3, 1986|By Jane and Michael Stern, Universal Press Syndicate

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Brace yourself. Get calm. Take a deep breath. Now walk through the entrance to the Beacon Drive-In. You have stepped into a tornado. New customers push in behind you. The line ahead moves fast. From behind the counter, white-aproned waiters scream at you to hurry up and place your order.

''Barbecue,'' you stammer. ''Pork-a-Plenty, sliced, with slaw and onions.''

And before the last syllable is out of your mouth, the server is yelling your order back to an immense open kitchen, where dozens of cooks chop and fry and assemble meals in what seems like total chaos and confusion. You breeze down the counter, beneath signs advising, ''J.C. Says It's Fine to Pass in Line'' and, ''Place Your Money in Hand and Have Your Order in Mind so We Can Get You to the Ball Game on Time.''

Now you have arrived at the drink station. This choice is easy. Although Pepsi, milk shakes and lemonade are on the menu, nearly every Beacon customer orders tea. It is iced tea, Southern-style, meaning liberally presweetened, served in a gargantuan tumbler loaded with crushed ice. Forget about straws; the way to lap this tea up is with one's snout deep inside the cavernous cup. Less than a minute has passed since the kitchen devoured your called-out order, and whammo! Here comes the food, exactly what you wanted, brought to you by whichever server yelled it out.

Now dig into some of the finest barbecue in a state where barbecue is king. Hickory-flavored ham is available as tender ''inside slices,'' lean, with a subtle, smoky tingle; or as ''outside meat'' with a chewy, sharply seasoned crust. Both come bathed in a sauce that smacks of cloves and vinegar. On the side, if you get a Pork-a-Plenty plate, you want french fries, plus sweet relish slaw and out-of-this-world fried onion rings.

The Beacon sells a ton of barbecue each day, but if pork with its accoutrements is not your dish, you may choose from a 100-item menu that includes fried chicken, catfish sandwiches, ''pig's dinner fudge sundaes,'' and double chili cheeseburgers with bacon, lettuce and tomato.

You can eat indoors at the Beacon, in one of several rooms equipped with televisions and iced tea dispensers (for seconds). And, of course, you can eat in your car. Car service at the Beacon is fast, although not quite as thrilling as a run through the line inside. If you are lucky, you'll get Thomas Byrd or Robert Evans as your curb attendant. They are Beacon veterans, having carried pork and onion rings to customers for more than 30 years each. The Beacon Drive-In opened for business on Thanksgiving Day in 1946, and it has since earned a reputation as a one-of-a-kind landmark for barbecue, burgers, iced tea and lightning-fast service. Operated first by John White, now his sons, it is a restaurant with real personality, a taste of an American style of eating and serving that has been eclipsed nearly everywhere else by the sameness of franchised food.

The Beacon is open six days a week from 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. If you plan on coming Friday or Saturday, be forewarned that the parking lot is jammed. One way to avoid the crowds is to fly in. Airborne customers are invited to land at the Beacon's helicopter pad just across the street, which has, in fact, been frequented by Marines stationed at Fort Bragg.

If you dine in your car, one of the sights visible from the parking lot will be bags full of onions piled up against the drive-in wall in 8-foot-tall heaps. John White Jr. told us that the Beacon goes through a freight car full of onions every three weeks, almost all of them made into onion rings. The rings taste good, he told us, because they are dipped in a batter made with buttermilk before they're fried. The following recipe is our home-kitchen version of Beacon rings.

ONION RINGS

3 large Bermuda onions (about 3 pounds)

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups buttermilk

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsps salt

Fat for deep frying

Salt to taste

Peel, then slice onions into 1/4-inch slices and break up into individual rings. Soak in large bowl filled with ice-cold water at least one hour, until fully chilled.